Longest Walk II, Alcatraz to DC in 2008

LONGEST WALK II, 30 Year Commemorative
http://www.longestwalk.com/

Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the Longest Walk?

The Longest Walk II – 30 Year Commemorative will depart from Alcatraz Island February 11, 2008 arriving in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2008. The Longest Walk Commemorative will travel 5 months through 11 states including California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Why are you walking?
We take up this task to walk in a manner befitting our nations. We shall walk for the Seventh Generation, for peace, for justice, for healing of Mother Earth, for the healing of our people suffering from diabetes, heart conditions, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other diseases. We walk with the message: All Life is Sacred, Save Mother Earth.
Who can walk?
The Longest Walk is open to adults of all nations and cultures. We request (not require) that you fill out a Walker Registration and Waiver Form (available soon on longestwalk.org) to help us track how many participants will be joining us. Please email the completed form to longestwalk@comcast.net.
Code of Conduct:
-- Respect for fellow walkers’ body, mind, soul and personal belongings
-- Be alcohol and drug free – a NO tolerance policy is in effect
-- No sexual harassment – a NO tolerance policy is in effect
-- No weapons of any kind (knives, guns, mace, pepper spray, etc.)
Do I have an entrance fee to pay to join?
No. There is no fee to join The Longest Walk. However, at this time, Longest Walkers will be responsible for their own daily food and travel expenses. How this will work is: We will ask for a small daily contribution to help pay for food expenses and support vehicles (gas, maintenance, etc.).
We are actively seeking financial assistance from nonprofit foundations, but we are a grassroots organization and STRONGLY encourage all who plan to join us for the duration of the Longest Walk to have a personal stash of funds.
www.myspace.com/longestwalk longestwalk@comcast.net LONGEST WALK II 30 Year Commemorative www.longestwalk.com
Who do I contact if I want to participate?
There will be a Longest Walk hotline soon; keep checking www.longestwalk.org. The Longest Walk Registration Form will be online by July 11, 2007. Please fill it out and email it to longestwalk@comcast.net. If you have questions regarding the Longest Walk, please email longestwalk@comcast.net.
How do I get to Alcatraz Island to join The Longest Walk?
You are responsible for your own transportation to Alcatraz Island.
How will I get home from Washington, D.C.?
You are responsible for your own transportation from Washington, D.C.
We strongly recommend making travel arrangements to and from both locations if you plan on walking the duration of The Longest Walk. Unless you plan on bringing your own vehicle.
What if I want to bring my own vehicle?
We ask that you bring at least another driver with you, so there will always be someone available to drive the vehicle. The Longest Walk will help to cover gas expenses as much as possible if the vehicle is being used in a support capacity i.e. transporting Longest Walk goods (food, supplies, etc.).
What if I get hurt while on The Longest Walk?
Each individual is responsible for their own medical expenses. We will have a small crew of medical and nursing volunteers to treat minor injuries (cuts, sprains, etc.). You are STRONGLY encouraged to have health insurance and carry an insurance ID card with you in case of emergency. The Longest Walk will not be responsible for any medical expenses that arise from your participation.
How can I get involved?
There are several ways to help a grassroots organization! For starters, you can help starting from just spreading the word about The Longest Walk in your local community.
1. If you’re a Myspace (er) then add Longest Walk to your Top Friends. www.myspace.com/longestwalk
2. Email the Longest Walk flier and FAQs to your entire address book.
3. Print the flier and post in your community to get others involved!
www.myspace.com/longestwalk longestwalk@comcast.net LONGEST WALK II 30 Year Commemorative www.longestwalk.com
4. The Longest Walk needs support vehicles - and gas cards!
1. Medical vehicle
2. Food vehicle
3. Luggage vehicle
How do I become a committee member if my state is along the route?
Each state along the route will have a state coordinator and a planning committee. If you live in a LWII state, then please contact the coordinator in your state to see how you can contribute in your state. Email: longestwalk@comcast.net to find out who is your state coordinator.
Longest Walk BENEFIT CONCERT:
November 3, 2007, 7:00 pm –
The Fillmore in San Francisco with Dennis Banks & Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Featuring Kris Kristofferson, Taj Mahal, Kitaro, Peter Coyote, Wes Studie performing with his band, Adam Beach, Pete Sears, San Francisco Taiko Dojo & Special Guests. For more information, visit: www.redhotpromotions.com
www.myspace.com/longestwalk longestwalk@comcast.net

THE HANDY DANDY GUIDE TO ANDY

Williams, that is.....

Starting July 5th, 'As The World Turns' goes on the road to Branson, Missouri, where Gwen will meet Andy Williams at his Moon River Theatre. Looks like everybody wins with that bit o' synergy.....

Mr. Williams will be on the 9th and 10th of July as well, but I'm not sure if he'll be crooning....

This isn't the first time Andy Williams has appeared as himself in Toobworld, and I'm not even talking about his own variety show or the many others (as well as music specials and talk shows) that he's done over the years.

"The Larry Sanders Show" .... Himself (1 episode, 1998)
- As My Career Lay Dying

"The Muppet Show" .... Himself (1 episode, 1980)
- Episode #4.22

(Hey, if you interact with Muppets as if they were alive, this counts as a fictional show and not a variety show!)

"America 2-Night" .... Himself (1 episode, 1978)
- Celebrity Night

"The Jack Benny Program" .... Himself (1 episode, 1964)
- Andy Williams Show

"The Joey Bishop Show" .... Himself (1 episode, 1964)
- Andy Williams Visits Joey

I included Jack Benny's show because it was a strange mix of variety and Jack's "life" in Toobworld. And looking over the list from the IMDb.com, I could have sworn he did an episode of one of the 'Lucy' shows, but I guess I was just assuming what could have been a natural.....

(Not that the IMDb is always trustworthy!)

At any rate, with just his appearances on 'America 2Nite', 'The Larry Sanders Show' and on Joey Bishop's sitcom, and added to the upcoming appearances on 'As The World Turns', Andy Williams has an impressive handful of credits for the League of Themselves.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

Michael Moore, making 'em squirm with Sicko

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

TUCSON -- Michael Moore's "Sicko" riveted moviegoers here, who applauded Moore's exposure of the broken health care system in the U.S. and the advantages of free health care in Canada, England, France and Cuba.
There were cheers for Moore for revealing how insurance denials for health care result in death. But in Sicko, the most provocative indictment of the U.S. health care system comes as Moore demonstrates, step by step, how alleged terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are receiving better health care than the EMTs and those recovering human remains at the Towers in New York, after Sept. 11, 2001.
An entire second film could be made about the sinister lobbying of Congress and funding of presidential candidates by the pharmaceutical companies. The profiteering pushes up your cost for medicine and places you in danger because of favoritism.
In Tucson, nurses and health care providers came out by the dozens at El Con Theater, wearing orange tee-shirts. They urged people to see the film and change the health care system in America.
The film is funny, too.
As for Michael Moore, congratulations. One person can change the world. One thing has already changed for many moviegoers: the myths and misconceptions about our neighbors to the north and south, and fellow human beings in France.
As for those who didn't know already, the movie makes it clear: the uninsured and the sick in America have been had.
On a personal note, my mind raced back to the news story I wrote just before I was fired in 2006. After being told to write about bird flu, my research led me to the fact that Donald Rumsfeld was profiteering, making millions, off the the sale of the medicine Tamiflu as U.S. states were being told to stockpile Tamiflu.
The article printed, with my name on it, in Indian Country Today is not the one I wrote. It was censored and rewritten by the editors. The references to Rumsfeld's profiteering were deleted, as was some of the information about drug manufacturers attempting to profiteer from the sale of ribavirin on the Navajo Nation, after Navajo deaths from hantavirus in the mid-1990s.
When I complained about this, I was fired. The uncensored article is at:
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com/
One can only wonder, what's next for Michael Moore.


Counter Spin

'by Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

As everyone who watched "Wag the Dog," knows, there's a quick spin to counter anything that exposes the truth in America.
After Sicko's premiere nationwide in theaters last night, here's the Counter Spin, carried by scores of newspapers. The AP writers who were quick to come to the defense of the sick U.S. health care system:

Sicko' Film Gives Accused Little Say
By KEVIN FREKING and LINDA A. JOHNSON

The Associated Press

Saturday, June 30, 2007; 1:03 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/30/AR2007063000293.htm

Google wants to protect you from Michael Moore:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=5549

UPDATE: Google apologizes
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_6310943

MTV's Counter Spin:
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1563758/story.jhtml

Here's all the breaking news reviews, good and bad:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1117466940&scoring=n

Here' more from nurses about Sicko:
OAKLAND, Calif., June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses, doctors, and healthcare and community activists -- part of a broad, national coalition -- will be out in force in America's theaters this weekend as Michael Moore's "SiCKO," a riveting indictment of the healthcare industry, opens across the nation. More than 20,000 RNs have already volunteered to participate, part of an effort to also get one million nurses to see the film.
From coast to coast, the caregivers and community leaders will be inviting moviegoers to see the film and then fix our healthcare system by urging our legislators and political candidates to support reforms that guarantee universal healthcare for all -- while getting the insurance companies who systematically deny needed medical care out of the way.
Among the scores of cities where filmgoers can expect to see the volunteers are New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Albany (NY), Atlanta, Austin, Bethesda (MD), Boise, Boston, Cherry Hill (NJ), Cleveland, Clifton (NJ), Dallas, Denver, Fresno, Houston, Huntington (NY), Indianapolis, Long Beach, Louisville, Madison (WI), Memphis, Montpelier (VT), Nashville, New Brunswick (NJ), New Orleans, Oakland, Orange (CA), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, South Orange (NJ), Stockton (CA), and Tucson, Raleigh, and Cary (NC), (partial list).
Many of those on hand will be RNs in red "Scrubs for SiCKO" who will be enlisting the audiences to move "from SiCKO to sanity" and help pass HR 676 in Congress, which would establish a publicly-administered single-payer healthcare system in the form of improved Medicare for all. Several states have similar bills, such as SB 840 in California.
Among the many participating organizations are the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, Physicians for a National Health Program, New York State Nurses Association, Massachusetts Nurses Association, Health Professionals and Allied Employees (AFT), United Steelworkers (USW) Health Care Workers Council, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, United Nurses and Allied Professionals (Rhode Island), Communications Workers of America, the New England Nurses Association, and others. California Nurses Association
CONTACT: Shum Preston, +1-510-273-2276, or Charles Idelson,+1-510-273-2246, both of CNA and NNOC

AT THE MOVIES (IN TOOBWORLD)

I caught part of an episode of "Drake and Josh", my first one, only because I figured I'd get the name of a fictional TV show out of it. (The plot was about one of the two guys appearing as a perp's dramatization on 'The FBI's Most Wanted'.)

But I got a bonus for Toobworld trivia by the fact that he was working at a moviehouse, looked to be a sixplex. However I was caught off-guard - didn't have the ol' trusty pen and pad handy to copy down all of the names of the movies playing there. But I did remember these three:

"Bacon And Legs"
"Soup City"
"The Eyes Of The Mummy"

Perhaps "The Eyes Of The Mummy" stars the televersion of Brendan Frazier. "Bacon And Legs"? Maybe a Pixar or Dreamworks CGI flick about a pig joining the Rockettes. (I probably just gave away the next big animation hit.....)

And "Soup City"? Beats me. Maybe the televersion of Jerry Seinfeld is finally making movies and decided his past experience with the "Soup Nazi" might make a good starting point for a movie....

BCnU!
Toby OB

Canada: Protests and blockades

Canada: National Day of Action, see breaking news on protests at Google:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Mohawks&ie=UTF-8&scoring=n

JUNE 29 DAY OF PROTEST

Mohawk Nation News

9:00 am. Discussions with Shawn Brant to open up Number 2 to Marysville. Little Mouselini Fantino said he has a present for Shawn Brant that he wants to give him within the hour. The OPP closed the TransCanada Highway 401. The CN CP rail were closed by the rail companies. They put up the blockades. Are they turning Indian? At any rate, now we know how to close down the colonial operation. We just have to say we’re g0ing to do it and they do it themselves. Shawn Brant said, “We have been pre-empted by CN”.

Maybe the situation isn’t so funny after all.

A Kanehsatake Mohawk saw an armed Canadian Naval Frigate docked in Montreal port as of Wednesday, June 28th. What a coincidence!
Or what? Good thing they didn’t see him. They might have shot him like Champlain shot the first Mohawks he saw.

Highway 30 that surrounds Montreal on the south shore was blocked this morning by Mohawks of Kahnawake at 6:30 am. for about half an hour. Now one lane is open. It goes from St. Constant to Chateauguay . The government sanctioned squatters are squirming because they have vivid and distressing memories about their inconvenience caused by the blockade of the Mercier Bridge during the Mohawk Oka Crisis of 1990. They all smiled at us and were so grateful and relieved when they got waved through.

At 12:00 noon today there will be a march from Kahnawake, over the Mercier Bridge to the Seaway span, flags will be hoisted and then the marchers will return to the south end of the bridge.

MCK band council of Kahnwake is holding a press conference at the Services Complex. They have to make sure they’re in on the action. it’s funny how the people have the initiative and the colonial politicians take the credit, as ever.

Report from Ottawa : Some toilets have been blocked and plumbers are working overtime at Parliament Hill. Is this a sign that someone’s constipation has ended and they finally had a bowel movement? We will all flush at 3:00 pm. in their honor to encourage Canadian politicians to get rid of their shit.

As far as we can see, they don’t appear anywhere in sight. There is a run on Diapers, Port-a-potties, Rolaids and Pepto-Bismol on Parliament Hill. What could they possibly be worried about?

The BBC in London called to get the lowdown on what’s happening in the colonies.

MNN has received calls from journalists at various times in the past. We provided leads for their stories on the Mohawks and Indigenous issues. Sometimes they publish. Sometimes they don’t. We have been advised of an occasion when a Canadian journalist was fired under circumstances that make it appear that his investigation into this kind of information was at issue. Do you still believe in freedom of the press among the colonial cultures on Turtle Island .

At the International bridge in Akwesasne [which is located in colonial Ontario , Quebec and New York State ] there were many Mohawks with tires which the OPP came by and took away. We just hope they aren’t going to come back and take the tires off our cars.

A letter from a supporter to Ottawa : “It is an absolute crime the way your government treats the Aboriginal people. This is to let you know that your white Nazi approach to solving problems is despicable! The world is being made aware of your neglect of the aboriginal people”.

MNN Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/
http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
Katenies20@yahoo.com

NICK-MARRIOTT (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH NIKKI HILTON)

A friend of mine who works for the Marriott organization sent me this press release from May 31, 2007:

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR), Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom International, Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA B) MTV Networks, and Miller Global Properties, LLC, an international real estate investment and development company, today announced an agreement to co-develop a breakthrough new lodging resort brand and concept for travelers seeking fun and adventure, “Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott,” with 20 potential hotels expected to be under construction by 2020.

The new upscale, self-contained destination resorts will be developed through a collaboration among Nickelodeon, the world’s number-one entertainment brand for kids, with 35 channels reaching approximately more than 200 million households in 135 countries; Marriott International, which has nearly 2,900 hotels in 68 countries; and Miller Global Properties. All “Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott” properties will be managed by Marriott.

The first “Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott” property is expected to be a 650-room resort at Liberty Station in San Diego, which will incorporate a 100,000 square-foot water park and activity deck complex featuring a variety of pools and interactive attractions.

Other potential resort locations being considered for development include major family-oriented destinations in the U.S., Caribbean and Mexican resort areas, the UK and Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, “When you bring together the premier hospitality company with the number-one TV destination for kids and families, it’s a winning combination for unbeatable resorts."

Cyma Zarghami, President of Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group, said, “This partnership with Marriott to bring the Nickelodeon experience to families all over the world comes at the perfect time, as the first generation of kids who grew up with our brand now have come of age and are having families of their own. Marriott knows hotels and business and leisure travelers, and no one knows kids and families like Nickelodeon. We know this will be a great combination, and it signals the beginning of a new era for the Nickelodeon brand.”

“Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott” will cater to families with children but will also appeal to fun-seeking business groups and individuals, creating a unique marriage of Marriott’s superb hospitality with Nickelodeon’s dynamic and trend-setting entertainment. Guests will experience Nick-themed resort activities throughout the hotel.

A signature component to each resort will be a wide variety of attractions ranging from state-of-the-art pools and water features (indoor water parks will be featured elements in cooler destination markets), plus live entertainment programs featuring popular costumed Nickelodeon characters like Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants. “Studio Nick,” a main stage theater space equipped with state-of-the-art lighting, sound and video will anchor the resorts’ live entertainment programs.

Each individual “Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott” will feature guest rooms and suites that cater to the unique needs of families including multi-bedroom suites, HDTV’s and Marriott’s new signature “plug in” technology. Pleasantly styled “kids’ suites” will be themed with Nick’s most popular hit properties creating an environment that kids will call home while staying at the resort.

In addition to a variety of restaurant options, the “NickToons Café” will provide a casual and friendly environment—the ideal setting for daily “character” breakfasts as well as special evenings.

Visit the press site, www.nickmarriottpress.com, for more information.

KNOW WHUT I MEAN, VERNE?

My second favorite episode of any TV show this year, and the best of the entire 'Lost' season, "Flashes Before Your Eyes", featured the first appearance of McCutcheon Whiskey (found only in Toobworld).

Greybishop, who writes the 'Lost' recaps at TVGasm.com, mentioned this interesting nugget of trivia about the whiskey's genesis:

Jules Verne fans will remember that "Admiral McCutcheon" was a character in "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea". If you are unfamiliar with "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea", it's about a submarine. Verne's masterpiece has all sorts of fun, possibly 'Lost' related bits in it.

For instance, the passengers aboard the Nautilus visit the sunken city of Atlantis, "Nemo" means "No One" in Latin which probably alludes to Homer's "The Odyssey", and most disturbing of all, the book ends and never reveals the ultimate fate of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus...

*Geek factoid*
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played a supporting role in the 1997 made for TV adaptation of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea".

Before the bottle of McCutcheon's made its first appearance, I was already wondering if we might find out that the Island of 'Lost' might be the same island found in Jules Verne's book "Mysterious Island". Now, I'm thinking this might be where we're headed.

Especially since the "Mysterious Island" has a televersion.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

A BIT O' JIBBER-JABBER

Perhaps for the last ten years, scriptwriters have found a way to get out of coming up with a mouthful of technobabble for their characters to splain a particularly tricky situation, no matter what the genre. And all it takes is two simple words.

"It's complicated."

Personally, I blame 'Dawson's Creek' for making it the crutch it has become. While looking for examples in various transcript sites and just from basic googling, I found many instances in which the characters of Capeside resorted to the excuse of "It's complicated" to get out of splainin' their situation.

And everybody else seems to have picked it up and run it right off the field!

Here are a few examples:

"This is gonna be more complicated than we thought."
John Locke
'Lost'

'Judging Amy' (Stupid me, I forgot to I.D. who was speaking!)
A: NO, WE HAVEN'T. YOU NEVER TOLD ME WHY YOU BROKE UP.
B: BECAUSE IT'S COMPLICATED.
A: WELL, WAS HE DRINKING? WAS HE CHEATING? WAS ANYBODY GETTING BEATEN?
A: YES, YOU NAILED IT! AND HE WAS A CROSS-DRESSING SERIAL KILLER.

Also from 'Judging Amy':
Judge Amy: HONEY, IT'S COMPLICATED.
Daughter?: YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING WRONG.

'Farscape'
D'Argo: "Wormholes... Earth... what?"
John: "Look, it's complicated."
D'Argo whispers: "I understand that."

This was from a review of an episode of 'Smallville', but obviously based on this excerpt, the line was spoken in the episode:

Clark's confusion over how to back away from that intimacy without explaining his reasons is again perfectly portrayed by Tom Welling. You can see how much it hurts Clark when he tells her, "It's complicated." You can see how much he wishes he could tell her his secret.

Also from 'Smallville"
Lois: Really? You two?
Clark: We never...
Lana: Not really.
Clark: ...had a thing.
Lana: It's complicated.
Lois: [She has heard enough.] A complicated thing. Never mind.

from 'Felicity':
SEAN: Well, um... If you do, then I'm a little confused. He said you're calling things off.
ZOE: Sean, it's complicated.

from 'ELLEN'
Ellen: Yeah, well, I -- I, I wanna be, uh, out, an' I wanna be open but it's complicated, you know? I mean, it's just it should be my choice who I tell and then when I tell 'em.

'That 70s Show':
KITTY: This tape? HOW DO THEY GET THE MOVIE ONTO THE TAPE WHEN IT'S WAY THE HECK OVER HERE, RED?
RED: It's complicated.

'Joan of Arcadia':
Kevin: What do women want?
Helen: Shoes.
Kevin: What else?
Helen: It's complicated. I think you might have to spend the rest of your life figuring that one out.

Here's one from the major culprit.....

'Dawson's Creek':
Mitch: So, uh, it's complicated and, um, actually I don't know exactly how comfortable I am talking to you about this.

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer':
Buffy: Because I have obligations. People that I'm responsible for, or to, or... (Tom laughs and so does she) with, or... It's complicated.

'Crossing Jordan':
Garret: It's complicated. You know, truth is we disagreed about the case ten years ago. Mother's killed. Father's a suspect. There's a daughter involved. You do the math. Woody.

'Angel':
Angel: "I tried to do what I thought was right. It's complicated how this all happened, Buffy, you know? It's kind of a long story."

'Stargate SG1':
PRIOR: You do not believe in a higher power?
LANDRY: Well, it's complicated. There are a lot of different points of view about that subject around here.

'Battlestar Galactica':
Tigh- It's complicated. It would take about three weeks to explain

'Gilmore Girls':
JESS [passionately]: What are you doing? Living at your grandparents' place? Being in the DAR? No Yale - why did you drop out of Yale?
RORY: It's complicated!
JESS: It's not! It's not complicated!

'Alias':
SYDNEY: I know it's complicated--
VAUGHN: We're not together anymore.
SYDNEY: Since when? ...

'Stargate Atlantis':
DEX: Then what is he doing – exactly?
SHEPPARD: It's complicated.
DEX: You can do better than that.

Actually, I can't. So I might as well call it off at this point since you get the general idea.
And if you don't... well, it's complicated....

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE HAT SQUAD: WILLIAM HUTT

Sadly, the real world reflects Toobworld with the announcement of the death of William Hutt in Canada. He was 87 and had been suffering from leukemia.

Mr. Hutt was a Shakespearean acting legend, a giant at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for half a century. Recently on Television, he appeared in the third (and probably final) season of 'Slings & Arrows', which was about a similar Shakespeare festival in the Toobworldian town of New Burbage.

Mr. Hutt portrayed Charles Kingman, also an acting legend in Canada, who had just the one last chance to play "King Lear" before he died of cancer.

I'm fairly certain that before the year is out, you'll be seeing the name of William Hutt in this space again.....

BCnU....
Toby OB

"COMPLETELY LOST" (AND TOTALLY NUTS)

For those of you who are jonesing for a fix o' 'Lost' and don't think you can hold out until February (Buwhahahahaha!), here's a little something from the fine folks in Frostbite Falls.....

http://www.bullwinklestudios.com/boris/short2_lost.htm

BCnU!
Toby OB

SAMANTHA TO BRENDA: BORN TO RERUN?

Here's a theory of relateeveety.....

Could it be that somewhere in her family tree, Brenda Leigh Johnson of 'The Closer' might find Samantha Crawford, who showed up every so often to bedevil 'Maverick'?

I was watching the episode "According To Hoyle" tonight (one of my Holy Grails now crossed off my list) on the American Life network, and it struck me that there are similarities in the way they look and certainly in how they carry themselves when presenting a false front.

In that, I might even go so far as to say that Brenda Leigh could be the reincarnation of Samantha... except that Miss Crawford would need to squeeze a lot of lifetimes in before the birth of Brenda Leigh in 1966 if she hopes to upgrade her karma in time!

Thank yew. Thank yew so much.

BCnU!
Toby OB

MUSEUM PIECE

Once upon a time, the Museum of Television & Radio had a blog. A couch potato by the name of "Home Fry" posted this interesting observation about "A Little Random Strangeness":

The Bizarre Case of The Two Jerrys
The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Bob Newhart Show: the protagonist of each show had a best friend named Jerry. They were both tall, dark haired, wisecracking dentists.

Comedy writer Rob Petrie's Jerry was an amateur psychologist, while psychologist Bob Hartley's Jerry fancied himself a comedian.

The actors who played the two Jerrys--Jerry Paris and Peter Bonerz--went on to become prolific television directors.

Weird, huh?

Reminds me of that old saw about the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy....

BCnU!
Toby OB

THICK AS PEANUT BUTTER

I posted this to my email group, the Idiot's Delight Digest:

"Definitely see Ramon, Lawyer Dickstein, and the new owner of the motel asthe 3 Wise Men. And bringing pea soup to the Yost family certainly nailedthat image for me."

Ray picked up on this and gave it a Toobworld twist:

One of the guys mentioned getting it at a pea soup restaurant. I know aboutAndersen's Pea Soup up in Solvang, the Danish town, but are there other peasoup restaurants in California? Or was the writer just overreaching?

It's nice to see some other area in the country get such scrutiny for divergences from the real world besides New York City. But it doesn't matter if there are no other pea soup restaurants outside of Solvang, nor especially in Imperial Beach. Because that's the real world; there is one in Toobworld because that is what was broadcast.

BCnU!
Toby OB

DEJA VIEW ALL OVER AGAIN

Earlier this past season, 'Boston Legal' took old footage of a young William Shatner working with Ralph Bellamy on a 'Studio One' production, "The Defender". This would serve as the pilot for the classic TV series 'The Defenders', starring EG Marshall and Robert Reed. We were meant to look at this old footage in a new light, seeing Shatner and Bellamy playing Denny Crane and his father.

But it wasn't the first time that we saw old TV series footage recycled to be used in a different way on another TV show. A member of the IMDb.com-munity supplied this information about an episode of 'Boomtown':

Two men rob a sporting goods store and hold everyone inside hostage. After hearing that one of the hostages inside is a former 80s TV star whose role inspired him to become a cop, Ray decides to go inside in an effort to save the day.

The interesting thing about this episode was use of footage from the '80s series "Riptide" recast as the fictional TV series "Insured by Smith & Wesson". It was a rather clever re-editing and done well. Joe Penny plays an assistant manager at a Wal-Mart style sporting goods store in this episode of "Boomtown". He was once an actor that starred as a PI in an old TV show. Now he is the inside man on a store robbery gone bad.

He slowly realizes that through this he may resuscitate his career and recapture some old glory. Perry King shows up in the "Riptide" footage only. It was fun to see "Riptide" resurrected if only briefly some 15 years after it was canceled. An interesting twist to a so-so TV show.

"Insured By Smith & Wesson" sounds like the kind of show that Howie Zuckerman ('Lost' - "Expose") might have produced.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

SLEESTACKED

Back in 1974, a family of three - Ranger Rick Marshall and his two children, Will and Holly, - were rafting down a river when suddenly a temporal/spatial vortex opened and swallowed them up. They found themselves in an articially created, closed universe, 'The Land Of The Lost'. In this prehistoric-like world, they found not only dinosaurs, but ape-like humanoids and a race of lizard-men called the Sleestak.

For two years they tried to find their way home using these TARDIS-like devices knows as "pylons". Rick Marshall accidentally triggered one of them which sent him back to Earth, only to be replaced by his brother who had "just coincidentally" been out on that same river looking for his brother and his niece and nephew.

(Apparently, there is some sort of seal on this dimension's borders - whatever gets out must be replaced by someone else getting in.)

So in 1976, Ranger Rick raised the alarums about this strange new world and of the threat of the Sleestak. Of course, the reason why you didn't hear other TV series talking about it, dealing with it, or reading about it in the Daily Planet, is because everybody was focused on the Bicentennial Celebration, the upcoming Presidential election, and the homicide investigation of celebrated TV detective Ward Fowler (as seen in "Fade In To Murder", an episode of 'Columbo').

In 1977, 'Land Of The Lost' faded from our TV screens, but anybody fluent in televisiology will tell you that the actions and adventures and life in general as seeon that show kept going in Toobworld (or in this case, a nearby closed universe).

As I mentioned earlier, if someone enters the 'Land Of The Lost', someone else has to leave it to maintain its "harmonious" balance. So it's my belief that when the family of three first entered through that vortex, it may have been three Sleestaks who escaped from it. (Or from some other portal into that world. I know of one other one - to be found in "The Painted Mirror" that was kept in an antiques shop. You can see it for yourself by checking out the exhibits in the 'Night Gallery'.)

Wherever they ended up on Earth, those Sleestaks wreaked havoc and probably killed several humans before they were captured or destroyed. If it happened in the televersion of the United States (pre-Kramerica), then it's likely they were exterminated by the Cigarette Smoking Man and reports of their existence chalked up to some kind of college prank or a movie stunt go wrong. The whole mess would be buried in one of those 'X-Files' folders maintained by FBI Special Agent Arthur Dales.

But the word would have gotten out anyway. After all, the Truth is out there. I'm sure 'The Chronicle' probably ran stories about the three alien lizard men all the time!

So people would have known about the Sleestaks and the rumors would have been verified by the time Holly and Will returned with their Uncle and were reunited with their father. (I don't know how they escaped; I'll leave that to the fanficcers.)

That's a possible scenario as to how the world at large, I say, Toobworld at large, to be exact - pay attention when I'm yammering at you, son! - came to know about the existence of the Sleestaks.

Why do I bring this up now. As a prelude to the splainin as to why airline executive Russ would refer to a Sleestak, a creature from a TV show that should share the same universe as himself, and yet be from some unknown dimension.

During this past Sunday's triumvirate of 'The Loop', Russ expressed concern for his young padiwan, Sam Sullivan by remarking how "Thesis" looked like he had just seen a Sleestak. Now, for us, the joke is in the idea of this 75 year old man making a pop culture reference to a kids' show from the early 1970s. But as I stated, Russ should not have had any awareness that such a world existed unless the Sleestaks actually did escape from that closed universe into ours.

And it just occurred to me that Russ might have had inside info not available to the general public. It could be that one of his company's own airliners made contact with that world. We don't know if "The Odyssey Of Flight 33" ever successfully made it back to the "present" (due to how the episode ended on 'The Twilight Zone'), but it might be that they were eventually able to retrieve some kind of data recordings from the plane.

Whether the three escaped Sleestaks were considered a hoax or actually believed to be real, the general public didn't consider them to be much of a threat apparently. By the year 2007, they were looked upon as an old joke, no longer a danger to Earth. They were an old joke that actually became a joke when Toofer, one of the staff writers on the 'TGS with Tracy Jordan' show (broadcast live from '30 Rock') came up with a sketch idea about a pancake house in the 'Land Of The Lost' called Slee's Stacks.

In order for a sketch like that to work on a nationally televised TV show, the Sleestaks had to be well-known by that point in time.

More than likely an SG team accessed that world via the Stargate and eliminated the Sleestak as a threat to Earth.....

SHOWS CITED:
'Land Of The Lost'
'Doctor Who'
'The Twilight Zone'
'Columbo'
'30 Rock'
'The Loop'
'The X-Files
'The Chronicle'
'Stargate SG-1'
'Night Gallery'
'The Adventures Of Superman'
'Seinfeld'

BCnU!
Toby OB

Arizona border: In the shadow of the spy tower

By Brenda Norrell

My friends and I drove out to one of the new spy towers that isn't working along the U.S./Mexico border.
All along the border, people are outraged that their right to privacy has been violated, as new spy towers are up, with cameras ready to capture their every move.
Border residents are scrambling to look for a draft environmental impact statement, if one exists, and information on how the microwaves will damage their health. They want to know how the radar will harm bats and other creatures that pollinate the delicate ecosystem of the desert.
The Secure Border Initiative, Project 28, is turning into one of the U.S. government's grandest fiasco's. And there's lots of competition there.
Suddenly, without Arizona land owners having an opportunity to comment, these spy cameras are ready to view everyone in the privacy of their backyards and backseats.
The U.S. contractor, Boeing, was able to keep one fact a secret along the border. The firm that is working with Boeing on this spy fence, Israeli-owned Elbit Systems, is the same one building the Apartheid Fence in occupied Palestine.
In a separate case, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen for torture flights to secret prisons.
At the same time on the Arizona border, the ancestors of Tohono O'odham were dug up and removed from tribal land for the border vehicle barrier on tribal land. Ofelia Rivas, O'odham Voice Against the Wall, says it was a violation of federal law and O'odham want their ancestors returned and reburied.
Needless, to say, everyone is looking for attorneys to file lawsuits.
Back at the spy tower, my friends and I had a little picnic of chocolates and grapes, in the shadow of the defunct spy tower, just as the final light of day disappeared in the desert mountains.
I should mention, that these friends are probably the only two people in the world that would do such a thing, calmly. We sat, as dark fell, having a picnic beneath a non-functioning border spy tower -- a tower that violates everything Americans have celebrated: human rights, respect, rights to privacy and the rights in the Constitution.
In the shadow of the spy tower, with its red light blinking in the desert night, the only thing we observed was a very nervous young guard sitting in his white truck at the spy tower.
Across the vast rolling hills, thunder clouds threatened.
We'll keep you posted.
--Brenda Norrell
Here's one document on the Secure Border Initiative that few people can find. We're still searching for that draft environmental impact statement, if one exists:
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS80699
Here's another US document:
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS80669

A "DEAD ZONE" RE-CASTAWAY

With the latest season of 'The Dead Zone', production has moved to Montreal from Vancouver. This apparently necessitated a casting change for JJ Bannerman, Johnny Smith's son who was adopted and raised by Walt Bannerman while Johnny was in a coma. So instead of Spencer Achtymichuk playing the role, it's now Connor Price who'll be seen as JJ.

At least it'll be easier to spell.

This will be an easy splainin for a Recastaway, falling under an old standby - plastic surgery.

Here's how I think it could have played out.....

Between seasons, nearly nine months have passed. Greg Stillson has been sworn in as Vice President - which reminds me, 'The Dead Zone' now takes place in an alternate TV dimension because of this plot development from the end of last season.

As for other signs that time marches on - most tellingly, Sarah Bannerman is now carrying a "bowling ball", her child by Walt to be a step-sibling for JJ.

At some early point in the hiatus, it's my conjecture that the Bannermans took a trip to Miami where JJ somehow got injured badly enough to require plastic surgery.

Perhaps it happened at an amusement park, one that would be found only in Toobworld. After all, we don't want to risk any lawsuits from Six Flags or Disneyworld. Everybody knows nobody ever gets injured or dies at those parks!

(It's a shame WallyWorld doesn't have a TV counterpart, considering that Anthony Michael Hall is the star of 'The Dead Zone' and he was in that first installment of the National Lampoon "Vacation" movies.)

Maybe he got attacked by an ancient, not-so-gentle bear in the Everglades.....

At any rate, I chose Miami for two reasons. One, it places JJ far enough away to keep Johnny from making physical contact with him and "seeing" the danger. But also, it puts JJ in close proximity to two of the best plastic surgeons in not only Miami, but all of Toobworld - Drs. Christian Troy and Sean McMahon of 'nip/tuck'.

JJ could even be the last patient they treated in Miami before Sean and Christian packed up and moved their practice to Hollywood.

What really helps this splainin is that young Master Price has two small scars on his nose. Pox or accident, they can be passed off as minor reminders of what might have happened between these two seasons of 'The Dead Zone'.

BCnU!
Toby OB

SCHURZ TALE

While waiting for the Kids with Kids to show up yesterday for our trip to the Cloisters, I watched as much as I could of "Cheyenne Autumn", the 1964 John Ford film about one of the sadder chapters in the history of the American West.

I've never seen the movie before, and hope one day to see it in its entirety (especially for the one scene with Jimmy Stewart as Wyatt Earp). But what interested me most, being the fan of political intrigue as I am, was a scene with Edward G. Robinson as the Secretary of the Interior. That's all he was listed as in the opening credits, and having done some investigation on the matter, I'm sorry they didn't identify him for the person he was: Carl Schurz.

I'm thinking this is a man I'd like to see more of in some kind of Televisual biography.

While reading the information... information... information about him at Wikipedia, I was struck by this quote:

The man who in times of popular excitement boldly and unflinchingly resists hot-tempered clamor for an unnecessary war, and thus exposes himself to the opprobrious imputation of a lack of patriotism or of courage, to the end of saving his country from a great calamity, is, as to "loving and faithfully serving his country," at least as good a patriot as the hero of the most daring feat of arms, and a far better one than those who, with an ostentatious pretense of superior patriotism, cry for war before it is needed, especially if then they let others do the fighting.
– Carl Schurz, April, 1898

Nearly 110 years have passed, and those words could not be more timely......

BCnU!
Toby OB

HISTORY, CHANNELED

Here's a belated birthday salute to John McIntyre, who stepped in to star in two of Toobworld's great Westerns, 'Wagon Train' and 'The Virginian'.

Not that he noticed I'm not on time with this.... Why should he be different from anybody else? Bwahahahaha! (Sorry. The cabin fever is already getting to me and it's only 10:30 am!)

Mr. McIntyre passed away in 1991 at the 83. He would have been 100 years old yesterday had he lived that long.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McIntire

BCnU!
Toby OB

My thanks to TrivialTV for pointing this out.....

PROFILES IN CATHODE: JAMIE MacCRIMMON

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about a former companion of the Doctor on 'Doctor Who':

James Robert McCrimmon, or simply Jamie, is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1969. (The spelling of the surname varies throughout the scripts. Other spellings include Macrimmon and McCrimmond.)

(The MacCrimmons were a genuine piping family, supposedly founded by Iain Odhar MacCrimmon, however they were pipers to the Clan MacLeod. The MacCrimmons' own tartan is actually yellow, although Jamie always wears a red kilt in the series.)

Jamie first appears in The Highlanders, encountering the Doctor, Ben and Polly in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden in 1746. At the end of the story, Polly suggests that the Doctor take Jamie along with them. Jamie continues to travel with the Doctor even after Ben and Polly leave the TARDIS at the end of The Faceless Ones. He appears in all but the very first Second Doctor serial, The Power of the Daleks, and in more episodes than any other companion, although Tegan Jovanka served with the Doctor for the longest in terms of years on the series.

It's pozz'ble, jes' pozz'ble, that Jamie knew members of the Clan MacLeod, including Duncan and Conor. And the presence of the TARDIS during the battle might have triggered the immortality quirk in the DNA of both of them, rather than just in Conor. (The odds of two members of the same family being reborn as an immortal seem nearly impossible.)

If so, it's an unofficial link between the 'Doctor Who' and 'The Highlander', although as a tele-historical link, the Battle of Culloden serves well enough.

During his travels with the Doctor, it's a good thing they never encountered a comic book artist by the name of Bob McKay ('Bob!'). The Clan McKay would be considered enemies to the MacCrimmons and MacLeods as they sided with the Crown before the Battle, betraying their Scottish heritage. Despite the passage of centuries, and Bob McKay's lack of any real link to his own heritage, it would have all been fresh in Jamie's mind and the Doctor might not have been readily available to keep the young warrior in line.

I've mentioned several times in the past few weeks that it's impossible to reconcile all the various media publications about 'Doctor Who' into one comprehensive 'canon'. So Toobworld can only concern itself really with the TV/online adventures of the Doctor and must ignore the books, comic strips, and audio plays. (As for the two Peter Cushing movies, we see those as movies made to splain away any public relations questions about the Doctor's appearances on Earth - perhaps they were funded by UNIT?)

So the following entry from the TARDIS wikia isn't of concern to this televisiologist:

When the Sixth Doctor next met him, Jamie lived as an elderly pariah in his village. Jamie had managed (using tricks the Doctor had taught him and because the Time Lords had a less than perfect understanding of the Human mind) to retain memories of his travels. After he told others about them, the locals believed that his wartime experiences had driven him slightly mad. Jamie vindicated himself by vanishing in the TARDIS before the whole village and then helped the Doctor, Peri and Frobisher fight the Cybermen on Marinus. Jamie died defeating them. (DWM: The World Shapers)

That may have happened in the same world in which the original stories of 'Blink' and 'Human Nature' take place, but it has no bearing on the TV version of Jamie MacCrimmon... unless, of course, RTD - while still in control of the franchise - decided to utilize the tale in the TV series.

But until then, the ultimate fate of Jamie MacCrimmon is unknown. (At the very least, I'd like to think he escaped the butchery that awaited most of the wounded and the prisoners after their loss at Culloden.)

Here's hoping that one day we will see him return to the show for a guest shot, as Sarah Jane Smith has done. And why not? Frazer Hines is still among us; the Doctor can always go back to the Scotland at the turn of the Century (1800) and reunite with his kilt-wearin' Companion.

Who knows? Maybe Jamie travelled with Charles Edward Stuart to live out his days in Rome, or crossed the sea to find a new life in the Americas!

BCnU!
Toby OB

"Let's get out of here.
I feel as if something evil is lurking down there."
Jamie MacCrimmon
'Doctor Who'

DHARMA: THE DWIGHT STUFF

So since I'm stuck here in my "offices" of Toobworld Central (actually, my bedroom), now's as good a time as any to clear out some posts I always meant to write up, as well as a few nuggets gleaned from the last week.....

This past season of 'The Office', Dwight eagerly jumped at the chance to serve as Obi-Wan Kenobi to mentor Ryan as his young padiwan. At one point, while they were out in a radish field, he peppered Ryan with a series of questions that were supposed to be dealing with the business of selling paper. But then he threw this curveball:

"What is the DHARMA Initiative?"

For the viewing audience, it was a funny reference to 'Lost'. But within the reality of Toobworld, 'The Office' and 'Lost' share the same universe. (Although 'Lost' is taking place in 2004 and 'The Office' is current.)

Here's what we know about the DHARMA Initiative from an excellent wiki site, LostPedia:

The DHARMA Initiative (Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications Initiative) is a mysterious research project, which has a large presence on the Island. Most information on the project is derived from the orientation film found at the Swan DHARMA Initiative station and the ARG The LOST Experience.

The initiative was allegedly founded in 1970 by Gerald and Karen DeGroot, two doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan. It was or is financially backed by the mysterious Danish industrialist and munitions magnate, Alvar Hanso and his Hanso Foundation. The alleged purpose of the Initiative was to create "a large-scale communal research compound where scientists and free-thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and utopian social-"

Note: The last research subject of the initiative was not fully made clear in the Swan Orientation film and is unknown (some have suggested Utopian Social Engineering or Utopian Socialism).

It all seems super-secretive and begs the question, how did Dwight know about it?
He probably didn't really know anything, which is why he was most likely asking Ryan.

Let's face it - Dwight's a dweeb. You look at him and you can see he's the kind of guy who sits in front of his computer late into the night and googles information... information... information about conspiray theories while listening to Art Bell on the radio. (If not Art Bell, who has a televersion thanks to his appearance as himself on 'Millennium', then Dwight probably listens to a Toobworld facsimile.)

In the Toobworld version of Google and other search engines, there are probably hints and clues that can lead to the truth about the Initiative... but nothing substantive even now more than three years after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. So it must have driven Dwight batty to not have all the answers; to the point where he would ask everyone what they knew in hopes of finding the answer for himself.

Maybe Dwight thought Ryan had inside info because of his "relationship" with Kelly.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

BLINKIN' AT THE CLOISTERS

I took my Kids with Kids (Sean & Gosia and their three little ones, Eli, my god-daughter Rhiannon, and Calvin) to the Cloisters yesterday. And of course we turned it into a TV experience.

We looked all over the castle/museum but found only one Weeping Angel (as seen in "Blink"). But it was quantum-locked in place with its face clear of its hands. There was an ancient stone shelf mounted on the wall with no statuette on it and I told them that one of the Weeping Angels had escaped and was on the loose, waiting to get us because we knew too much.

I guess I went too far. Sean told me later I freaked out Rhiannon and she was crying in the sarcophagus room.

It's probably a good thing I don't have kids of my own.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

A PROGRAMMING NOTE DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

I'll be spending most of the day trapped here in the bedroom of Toobworld Central, so you can expect to see plenty of posts from me today. I'm expecting a guy sent over by the Super to repair the living room ceiling, which finally crashed down last week (well, a huge chunk of it) fifteen years after the upstairs neighbor forgot to turn off his bathtub and it overflowed......

Wish I had a fridge in here, but at least my trusty sidekick Sand has everything he needs in here to last out the day. (Well, he's a cat, so he's not all that trusty.....)

BCnU.... soon!
Toby OB

Waiting for the rains

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

TUCSON -- This is the worst time of year, the heat is insufferable. After 15 minutes of walking in this 107 degrees baking-oven, I run into an ice-cold cafe for an ice-cold green tea.
What makes it worse this year, is most people can't afford to run their air conditioners at home, or own a car with air conditioning.
This is the hardest time of year here, when there is no relief from the sun, the time before the monsoon rains.
Then, I remember all those people headed north from Mexico, Guatemala and the south. Their families are hungry or a wife or child is sick and there is no medicine. They walk in this torturous heat and risk dieing in the baking desert.
Many do not make it. Their bodies are found out there, beneath mesquite trees or on the dry-baked earth. Many have died of heat exposure or dehydration. Some have been shot, others have been raped and shot.
The heat, and those images, are difficult to convey in words.
Photographer Michael Hyatt has captured images to tell this story. Hyatt's photos are of the mementos that migrants leave behind. He has just released a book of photos, Migrant Artifacts: Magic and Loss in the Sonoran Desert (Great Circle Books, $30).
At the book's opening show in Tucson Saturday night, one photo told the sad story of one life. A pair of leather sands, worn sandals like the kind that Indigenous wear in Chiapas, Oaxaca and most other places in the south, were left in the sand. They were left there, as if the person walking had simply stepped out of them during a slow and purposeful stride, stepped out of them and gone onto the next world.
More than 4,000 people have died crossing this desert along the border, each mourned by a mother, father, brother, sister, daughter or son.
Still, there are those volunteers out there each day trying to save lives. The volunteers from No More Deaths and the Samaritans look for those dieing in the desert. Humane Borders volunteers leave water in gallon jugs and small tanks for those dieing of thirst. Tohono O'odham Mike Wilson is one of those. The water, and the volunteers, are not enough to cover the vastness of the desert.
Derechos Humanos Coalition is struggling to protect migrant rights, including those shot and raped by border agents. The Indigenous Alliance Without Borders is fighting for the right for safe passage for Indigenous at the border.
The O'odham Voice Against the Wall is struggling to protect the ceremonial routes from the intrusion of the border wall and the return of their ancestors, following the recently vandalized graves by U.S. border construction.
Everyone is struggling, everyone is waiting for it to rain.
--Brenda Norrell

Photos by Michael Hyatt from his new book: "Migrant Artifacts: Magic and Loss in the Sonoran Desert"
"Our Lady of Guadalupe on the Migrant Trail," 2003.
"Anne Frank in Migrant Camp," 2004.

Authentic journalism, beyond money and even glory

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

There are a handful of heroes writing authentic journalism with courage and boldness, including Al Giordano at Narco News. Narco News exposes the fraudulent "war on drugs," while covering the Americas, including extensive coverage of the Zapatistas.

Giordano recently turned down an award from Project Censored, pointing out that the book publishing company would be making big bucks off the story. Giordano's work is a labor of love and passion. Like most authentic journalists, he works for little pay.

Other journalists, like myself, came kicking and screaming to the use of blogs to write authentic journalism. It was only after getting fired twice by a leading national Indian newspaper, where I served as a staff writer, that I realized that the only way to do it, is to do it myself. (I have no sponsors and receive no pay for this blog.)

When I saw an article I wrote today on the website of Indian Country Today -- the newspaper that fired me twice and forced me into bankruptcy -- it was troubling.

The link is to the story of a murdered Lakota woman, Lillian "Sunshine" Wright, a homeless woman on the streets of Tucson who brought out the best in people, in her life and death.

It is interesting that while I was writing that article, after Sunshine's memorial last week, I kept thinking of how the managing editor of Indian Country Today in 2005 had repeatedly demanded that I stop writing about grassroots people.

Would Indian Country Today have printed an article about Sunshine while she was alive and living on the streets? It is doubtful. I was told to write about politicians.

There's still a lot of "Sunshines" out there.

It also seems a good time, with Indian Country Today traffic headed this way, to point out some of the stories that remain censored at the newspaper. Just to name a few censored issues, there's the ongoing federal probe of some reporters' sweetheart, Congressman Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.; any issue referring to Leonard Peltier and finally, the Zapatistas' Other Campaign at the Mexican border.

In closing, here's Giordano's comments to Project Censored.

"The same indignant passions provoked in me when an unelected group of bean counters stole the votes from the Mexican people – that led me to investigate and publish that series of reports – are recurrent today when I read the heavy-handed manner in which your project seeks to sell or give my work to a commercial publisher of dubious ethics and motives without my permission."

By the way, Project Censored contacted me as well. They wanted to talk. I'm still waiting for that phone call. But like Giordano, I'm not holding my breath in hopes that anything good will come out of it.

--Brenda Norrell
Read more:
Narco News
http://www.narconews.com/
"Remembering Sunshine, murdered Lakota woman, special spirit"
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/06/remembering-sunshine-murdered-lakota.html

THE GOODBYE CHARLIE TOUR (PART THREE)

Okay, here's the last batch of TV shows in which I think a flashback by the 'Lost' character of Charlie Pace could take place....

'CSI: NY'
We wouldn't even need Dominic Monaghan for this one! Every Manhattan construction site has their plywood barriers plastered with old posters. So why not show a few tattered DriveShaft posters in the background of a crime scene?

'Cold Case'
What show could be better suited for flashbacks? Lilly Rush and her team could re-open a case in which a DriveShaft fan died during their Philadelphia concert. At the time, it looked accidental, or a drug overdose, but new information... information... information (Sorry about that, Chief!) leads the investigators to reclassify it as a homicide. DriveShaft would be seen performing on stage during the flashbacks.

'CSI'/'Las Vegas'
Here's a chance at a triple play which could only happen in the imaginary world of Toobworld, Television Without Borders, because you'd never get three networks to agree on this merger!

The Montecito would be a great venue at which DriveShaft might have appeared and perhaps Danny saved some of the surveillance tape footage of them; something for him to use in comparison when a DriveShaft cover band shows up at the hotel. (Only to find out that the members of the group are the actual surviving members of the original DriveShaft, including Liam Pace! They could be appearing as "incredible simulations" of themselves in order to avoid the pressure of living up to their own legend.)

As for the 'CSI' half of this dream two-parter, maybe the forensics team could investigate the murder of one of those musicians in the DriveShaft cover band. That way Dominic Monaghan could actually appear as Charlie's lookalike, but not necessarily acting like him, and it wouldn't have to be in a flashback. (Unless of course he turned out to be the victim.)

'How I Met Your Mother'
'Lost' is a drama, but it has its flashbacks of humor. Although it would be fun to see Barney suit up to party with Charlie backstage, I'd rather see an old Robin Sparkles video in which Shablonsky got DriveShaft to be her backup band. (It might feel like a comedown for the band after its meteoric rise, but it would certainly be better than appearing in a diaper commercial!)

'Entourage'
Another comedy. In this flashback, perhaps Johnny Drama took his younger brother Vincent Chase along to a backstage party for DriveShaft when they played Hollywood. And it could be that the "anything goes" lifestyle might have convinced Vince that this was the life for him.

Or Turtle could persuade E into putting "You All Everybody" into the "Medellin" soundtrack.....

One last suggestion, heading back overseas and across Time and the Relative Dimension of Space....

'Doctor Who'
Here's a show in which Dominic Monaghan could appear as Charlie, without being stuck in a flashback. Instead, the TARDIS could appear at some point in his life and the Doctor and Martha could actually interact with the young musician before he got stranded on the Island.

Perhaps it could materialize during the Second Tour of Finland, and Charlie could be swept up in an adventure that involves a living legend from the Elder Eddas which is using the lyrics of "You All Everybody" to ignite Ragnarok.

Ragnarok 'n' Roll, baby!

Or maybe the Time Lord and his Companion made a re-fueling pit stop on the Cardiff Rift. That's where Charlie - in town for a concert and riding a heroin high - stumbles by, to take a leak against the TARDIS.......

So that's the lot; a chance for Charlie Pace to find even more crossover glory in the flashbacks of other TV series. I hope you enjoyed this dabblin' in wish-craft, you turnip-heads!

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE GOODBYE CHARLIE TOUR (PART TWO)

I'm not sure if I've made too many choices for TV shows in which Charlie Pace could still appear in flashbacks, or if I just wrote too much with regards to their splainins. I'll just type away and see how it goes, but I might have to make this into a trilogy for good ol' Charlie!

'Coronation Street', 'EastEnders', 'HollyOaks'
Charlie was from Manchester, so as a Mancunian it would be believable to see him appear in a Corrie flashback to the time before he and his brother Liam hit it big with DriveShaft. Since flashbacks are a stock in trade for soap operas, maybe the regulars at the Queen Vic could trade stories about the time Charlie came into the pub and picked up a few birds after a DriveShaft concert. (Or perhaps he hit on Peg Mitchell herself for a bit o' scandal!) And Dominic Monaghan wouldn't even have to appear on 'HollyOaks'. Instead, his face could adorn a poster over the bed of a student at the community college. (Or better yet, maybe it could be mentioned that he attended classes there before dropping out to dedicate himself to the band.)

'Casualty', 'Holby City', 'Holby City Blues'
The perils of hard partying after a concert could be played out in the emergency room, with the local constabulary called in to file a report.

'Neighbours'
This is an Australian soap opera, I guess their country's version of 'EastEnders'. It could be that some character on that show knows Charlie's brother Liam, who moved there to straighten out his life. A chance encounter between them might trigger a memory of Charlie from his visit Down Under. (Recently they had a "crossover" with 'Little Britain', so this wouldn't be a new experience.)

'Hu$tle'
There's no word yet on whether there might be another season for this series about a quintet of con men in London. (At least none that I heard about.) But I've read that even without Adrian Lester, the show has been still well-received by the audeinces... when they can find it on the AMC schedule.

Then again, Jaime Murray has now left the cast as well to work on 'Dexter', so that might be a death knell for the program.

At any rate, should it come back, 'Hu$tle' would be a perfect venue for a Charlie flashback. It would look back at his years as a grifter, when there could have been a time when Danny Blue teamed up with the musician on a series of short cons. This would be before Albert Stroller sponsored Danny to join Mickey, Stacey, and Ash in their crew.

'Torchwood'
'Lost' has always expanded upon trivial nuggets of information provided in earlier episodes - the TV show which Locke was watching in "The Man From Tallahassee", for instance, was the series 'Expose' on which Nikki Fernandez was a guest star. And they built a whole episode around Jack's tattoos (unfortunately).

In the penultimate episode of 'Lost' ("Greatest Hits"), Charlie flashed back to when Liam gave him a family heirloom - the "D-S" ring that once belonged to their grandfather, Dexter Stratton. But what if there was something about that ring which would draw the interest of the Torchwood Institute? ("If it's alien, it's ours" was their motto.)

It could be more of a supernatural connection than an alien one. (Perhaps Dexter Stratton once belonged to a coven?). But even so, we've seen such activity fall under the purview of Torchwood.

I think that's all for now, lads & ladettes. I'll post the rest up this afternoon after me nappies. And for the most part, we'll be looking those shows made in America.

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE GOODBYE CHARLIE TOUR (PART ONE)

June is almost over. so I thought I'd take one last look at our TV Crossover Hall of Famer for the month, Charlie Pace.

We've come to know the characters of 'Lost' so well because of the flashback concept which has filled in their personal backgrounds and informed the motivations for their actions on the island. The flashbacks have also been a way for us to keep in touch with characters we have lost over the last few seasons - since the end of the first season, we've seen Boone, Libby, Shannon, and Arzt return in the flashbacks of others. (But not in the flashbacks of the Others.)

In this season's finale, we lost Charlie Pace, but it's always pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that we may yet see him show up again in somebody's flashback - perhaps onstage with his band Driveshaft; seen on a TV screen in the background, perhaps giving an interview on a show similar to 'Entertainment Tonight'. Dominic Monaghan has said in an interview that he's open to the idea of coming back for such an appearance.

This being "Inner Toob", a blog dedicated to Toobworld, the Great Link, the Tele-Mosaic, we don't limit ourselves to the notion that Charlie Pace would only re-appear in flashbacks for 'Lost'. Who's to say that his life didn't intersect with those of TV characters in other shows? (Aside from the copyright lawyers, of course!)

This is just an exercise in wish-craft, a theoretical look at some of the shows in which Charlie might make a cameo in some character's flashback. (If some fanficcer comes along and nicks the idea for his own rip-off story, that's their own lookout.)

For Toobworld, no TV show is ever cancelled. We may not be able to view them anymore, but that does not mean that their stories are no longer unfolding within the TV Universe. So I could have chosen any number of shows no longer on the air in which Charlie Pace could make an appearance. (Within reason - we'd have to take into account the Toobworld timeline, for instance. I don't think we'd see him pop up on 'Star Trek' or 'Gunsmoke'.)

I usually like to suggest TV series which are still in production, feeding the fanboy's dream that some enterprising producer might learn of it and deem it an idea good enough to steal.

Otherwise, I'd come up with flashback ideas in which Charlie would appear on such shows as 'Touched By An Angel', 'The X-Files', 'Diagnosis Murder', 'Sex And The City', 'Lou Grant', 'Slings & Arrows', 'Queer As Folk' (UK version), 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Taxi', 'Keen Eddie', 'Alien Nation', and 'The Twilight Zone'. I'd have his alternate dimension doppelganger appear in "episodes" of 'The West Wing', 'Studio 60', 'Stargate SG-1', 'Sliders', and 'Jericho' (now returning to the Master Sked anyway).

Zoinks! If I had my druthers, I'd bring Charlie Pace back full-time and make him a regular member of Rube's team of Reapers on 'Dead Like Me'! (That's for you, Michael.)

The only show I'd avoid would be 'The Hetty Wainthrop Mysteries'. It might be awkward for Charlie to run across Geoffrey Shawcross..... (That's also for you, Michael.)

So let me get my notes in order, maybe fire up a fattie with Vietnam Joe, and I'll be back tomorrow with Part Two.....

BCnU!
Toby OB

"60" INTO "30" WON'T GO

Over in the blog for Alan Sepinwall, the TV critic for the Star-Ledger of New Jersey, a few of his readers dabbled in wish-craft in his latest post about 'Studio 60':

Luna said...
I agree, though, that Jack is the one thing worth saving. In a perfect world, he would get a transfer to 30 Rock.

TL said...
In a perfect world, he would get a transfer to 30 Rock.

I've been thinking about that too. They should totally do that, have Webber play the same character, and be the new rival of Jack Donaghey (sp) (assuming Baldwin comes back). "Jack vs. Jack." Maybe GE hires Jack Rudolph away from NBS to run GE's wayward microwave division.

Andrew said...
Nah, I wouldn't want Studio 60 existing in the same TV universe as 30 Rock. I'd rather have Webber playing [a] similar, more broadly drawn character with a different name on 30 Rock.

For my own part, I agree that Webber's work as Jack Rudolph has given us a richly layered character who's a rainbow of grey. And as I watch Matthew Perry's work, equally as talented, I suddenly got this idea that I would love to see him appear as... a Time Lord on 'Doctor Who'.

Maybe it's the sneakers.

But there's something about his over-charged persona that makes me wish to see him go head to head with David Tennant as the Doctor.

Why not a Gallifreyan with an American accent? And how about one with a Canadian accent? Say, Paul Gross of 'Due South' and 'Slings & Arrows'? Just as manic and over-charged......

Just sayin', is all....

BCnU!
Toby OB

O'BSERVATIONS: "BLINK"

I won't be announcing the winners of the 2007 Toobits Awards until the end of the year, but I can't see there being any more competition for Best Episode of the Year now that "Blink" of 'Doctor Who' has aired. Its closest competitor was "Flashes Before Your Eyes" from 'Lost', but even that has to take a back seat to this stand-alone story about Sally Sparrow with very little of the Doctor and Martha.

If we were just considering 'Doctor Who', I will admit that I've yet to see "Utopia" or "The Sound of Drums", the first two parts of the finale trilogy. ("The Last Of The Time Lords" will be the last episode for the season.) But based on what little I've read so far on those episodes, people loved them... but with qualifications. (For instance, 'Utopia' was generally seen as being half an hour of typical RTD tripe/shite and fifteen minutes of brilliance.)

"Blink" was a delight throughout.

So let's take a look at a few things from the episode....

You have to feel kind of sorry for Larry Nightingale. Not just because he lost his sister to the past, but because of his name! Lawrence Nightingale. If he wasn't always getting beaten up in the schoolyard, he must have been mercilessly teased with the nickname of "Florence".

Almost everybody who wrote about the episode would probably agree with me that Carey Mulligan was wonderful as the lead character Sally Sparrow. So far as I know, the last time American audiences saw her was in the 2005 adaptation of Dickens' "Bleak House" in which she portrayed Ada Clare.

There were also a lot of suggestions urging that Sally Sparrow and Lawrence Nightingale be spun off with their own series (with their built-in "ITV name" of 'Sparrow & Nightingale'), and to that chorus I'm adding my two bits. As a team they could veer off from the 'Doctor Who' mythos and be more in keeping with storylines that combine 'Veronica Mars' and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. And plenty of past characters from 'Doctor Who' could make guest appearances and fit in with that motif.

My hat's off to Hettie MacDonald, who directed this episode. She was amazing in her ability to create not only suspense but outright shock and fear from the angles she filmed the Weeping Angels. You have to admire the talent to raise goosebumps just by showing unmoving statues.

Stephen Moffatt's creation of the Weeping Angels ranks up there with some of the most original monsters to not only show up in 'Doctor Who' but in Sci-Fi TV anywhere.

Here's how they're described in the TARDIS wiki:

The Weeping Angels were a species of winged humanoids from the early universe, so called of their weeping appearance to prevent trapping themselves in stone form for eternity

The Weeping Angels were winged humanoids with sharp teeth who evolved numerous unique survival mechanisms thoughout their time, including the ability to move creatures back through time with a touch, allowing them to consume the potential energy from the time the victims could have had alive had the Angels not transported the victims back in time.

They also had a unique and nearly-perfect defence mechanism, quantum locking, which caused them to turn into stone when being observed. When not being observed, they could move incredibly fast to catch their victims. However, this meant that they had to cover their eyes when in their stony form, otherwise if they saw each other they would be trapped forever.

To me, it sounds like the Weeping Angels were specially evolved to the point of extinction, much like the same could be said for koalas and pandas; as it was for sabre-toothed tigers. And to have been that developed and still be one of the oldest species in the TV Universe, I'm thinking that they are a race of the Old Ones who survived the destruction of some other universe and somehow passed through a vortex during the "Big Bang" into the creation of the new universe. (Not OUR universe, mind you! Don't want to bleep off the creationists!)

It would seem that each Weeping Angel had the ability to send someone back in time a set number of years. Not to any particular year, but back by a certain amount. One of the Weeping Angels was responsible for sending Billy Shipton, Martha Jones, and the Doctor back to 1969, but it was one of the other Angels who sent Cathy Nightingale back to Hull in 1920.

Samantha Carter:
"The Stargate did send us back to 1969."
Jack O'Neil:
"Good year."
'Stargate SG-1'

1969 has some major temporal wormhole issues during that year. The starship Enterprise was temporarily stranded there one week in July, before the launch of the rocket that would be involved in the first moon landing (as seen on 'Star Trek'). The 'Stargate SG-1' team accidentally ended up there a few weeks before the Woodstock music festival in upstate New York.

I'm not sure if Woodstock has the same temporal allure as do the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy, and the sinking of the Titanic, but it does seem to draw its share of time travelers. Not that he traveled in Time to get there, but a member of the Q Continuum who called himself "Quinn" was present at Woodstock and changed history by providing a ride to Maury Ginsburg, whose van broke down. Just before the concert started, Maury noticed that a cable was loose which could have caused serious problems with the sound system. He was able to get it fixed just in time so that Sweetwater could perform as scheduled. And all thanks to Quinn. ('Star Trek: Voyager' and "Sweetwater")

Moffatt is an evil genius when it comes to teasing televisiologists. When Sally finally met up with the Doctor and Martha in order to bring the events full circle, they were on their way to prevent the "red hatching" of some kind of alien lizard's clutch. Could they have been the Silurians? Sea Devils? Maybe even the Gorn? Whatever the species, it was happening in the heart of London, so it put me in mind of a Quatermass adventure. Now, wouldn't that make for a loverly crossover?

Earlier this week I posted my ideas for the DVD collection of Sally's. But I have one last question on that:

Was there any significance in the name of the previous owner of the DVD store, "Banto"?

I hope the Doctor had some kind of endgame in mind for those four Weeping Angels. Because even though they had quantum-locked themselves into a trap, somebody could still get into that house - say, some punk thugs - and knock a couple of the statues over, thus breaking the link. Perhaps he used that temporal GPS device I suggested in an earlier post to determine how long it would be safe to leave them in that house.

But if they are permanently disabled, were they the last of their breed? Could there be other Weeping Angels in the galaxy? Here's hoping there are, because they are some of the most exciting and interesting monsters ever seen on 'Doctor Who'!

Please, sirs, may we have some more?

BCnU!
Toby OB

ADDENDUM:

This episode, along with the previous two-parter ("Human Nature"/"Family Of Blood"), serve as great examples as to why the 'Doctor Who' of the printed word should not be considered as part of the same canon as the televised adventures. In this case, Stephen Moffatt adapted his own story from a 'Doctor Who' annual. However, in that version, Sally Sparrow was only twelve years old. Thankfully her age was doubled so that we could enjoy the performance of Carey Mulligan in the role.

No way to reconcile the discrepancy, so it's better to keep them separate in their own universes and never the Twain shall meet... unless the Doctor actually does meet Twain.

Episode 4!!!

Rozz plays a horrible prank on me. It's mean!

And plus, you get to see me sleepy, with horrible hair, and absolutely no make-up.

What can make better tv than that?

Click on the picture to watch it. =)

Boeing/Israeli spy towers aren't working at Arizona border

Israel's 'Apartheid Wall' model for Arizona/Mexico spy wall

By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report

ARIVACA, Ariz. – The Israeli's "Apartheid Wall" is the model for the new spy towers at the U.S. Mexico border, which are not working. The U.S. border hysteria is resulting in billion-dollar contracts for Bush-friendly corporations violating human rights at the border.
The new spy towers built by Boeing and the Israeli’s Elbit System are now being called “Arizona’s Apartheid Spy Fence.” The startup of the spy network was delayed in June, because of radar problems.
Boeing is already the subject of an ACLU lawsuit for the torture flights to secret prisons of its subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan. Now, Boeing is under scrutiny for joining the Israel company Elbit to build a border spy network here. Elbit is building the Apartheid Wall in occupied Palestine.
Southern Arizona residents are wondering if the new virtual spy fence’s radar problems are related to the bat population here. Tens of thousands of bats fly out of the caves of Ruby, Arizona, near the new spy towers.
The new spy towers, composed of 98-foot surveillance towers, use infrared and radar to track human movement. The question that residents have posed is whether this radar would interfere with the bats' navigation abilities and their ability to pollinate.
The bats' pollination is essential to the saguaro, yucca and other desert plants in the fragile ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert.
Bats rely on a keen echolocation (or sonar) system to navigate and capture insects in the dark. Bats emit high-frequency sounds that are inaudible to human ears. By listening to echoes, bats can discern objects in their path, even in the night.
The big question -- with this $2 billion spy fiasco -- is whether the environmental impact statement took into consideration that this is a major bat habitat.
Further, the good folks that live around Arivaca don't want their every move spied on by the US/Israeli team. They are organizing in opposition to the spy towers, Project 28, under the Secure Border Initiative.
Meanwhile, few newspapers have reported that O’odham graves were dug up and the remains removed on May 17, in violation of federal law, for construction of the border barrier wall, on the Arizona border. Homeland Security has built two detention centers for migrants on Tohono O’odham tribal land, where many migrants die each year for lack of water.
Human rights activists point out that the border/migrant hysteria is turning into a billion dollar cash cow for Bush-friendly corporations. The migrant/border hysteria has been pumped up by U.S. television news and fueled by hate groups.
The bottom line is that the border hype is really about Bush and friends’ corporate welfare system. Halliburton didn't just get rich in Iraq. Halliburton was funded to build migrant prisons. The Frankenstein Wackenhut is also back, contracted to transport detained migrants.
Billion-dollar contracts for spy equipment and border walls are the latest deceptions to enrich Bush-friendly corporations, aided by an impotent U.S. Congress.

Related:

Apartheid Wall in Palestine becomes international model:

“The “Apartheid Wall”—as Palestinians call it—is scheduled to snake across 400 miles of the territory, encircling or cordoning off whole Palestinian communities to isolate them from expanding Israeli settlements that have moved into the region. The walls, which will come to incarcerate whole populations of Palestinians in their native lands, has become an international model.”
http://www.bordervoz.org/featuredarticle13.html/

Video of Arivaca residents reacting to spy fence:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/05/25/VI2007052501089.html?referrer=emaillink

Arivaca residents don’t like Big Brother watching:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.info/ss/breakingnews/53598.php/

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:”Boeing's big border fence project is off to a bit of a bumpy start. The 28-mile first stage of the Secure Border Initiative, or SBInet, missed its scheduled start-up date last week, and officials at Boeing and the Department of Homeland Security can't say for sure when it will be operational. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/6FCCE73AFD562DE086257302000C57D7?OpenDocument

”The DHS awarded the SBI contract for the border security project to prime contractor Boeing over Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. In addition to Boeing and Elbit, the other members of the $2 billion program are telecommunication heavy-weights Lucent, L3 Communications, Perot Systems and Unisys Global Public Sector”
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1450&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=TechnologyFrom

WW4 Report:
”How ironic. We noted in August that ex-Israeli security chief Uza Dayan was warning the US against emulating Israeli strategies in securing the Mexican border. Now it appears that Elbit Systems, an Israeli firm which is building the ‘Apartheid Wall’ in occupied Palestine, has been awarded a contract, along with Boeing, to build the wall on the Mexican border.”Elbit press release: http://www.elbitsystems.com/data/ESLT_Kollsman_Boeing_SBI_Project.pdf

O’odham remains unlawfully excavated at border:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/06/oodham-ancestors-remains-unlawfully.html/

Jeppesen sued over 70 torture flights:
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6023854/